Design for Simply Made Honey Heater

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 84, Issue 4, 15 April 1952, Page 283

Design for Simply Made Honey Heater

A LMOST every beekeeper finds that some extracting must be ** done late in the season, but as honey is more viscous then because of lower temperatures, it is slower to extract and more difficult to strain. This article by L. H. Johnson, Apiary Instructor, Department .of Agriculture, Palmerston North, describes a satisfactory heater made by Mr. E. J. Kirk, of Wanganui, by modifying

a Baines cappings melter and gives constructional details of a heater of similar design which most beekeepers should be able to make themselves.

THOUGH many appliances have been designed for heating honey as it flows from the extractor, few are efficient. Honey may be warmed without risk of deterioration if it is not exposed to too high temperatures for long periods; to speed the work up it is necessary to get all the honey to come in contact with heat. quickly. The temperature of the heating surfaces should never be higher than the danger point of 160 degrees F. or the honey next to it will be impaired. Mr. Kirk increased the holding capacity of his Baines melter - by extending the side and end walls Bin. upward and he closed the ordinary honey and wax outlets. A baffle is fixed near one end so that the honey must flow underneath it and up to the outlet pipe. The ordinary Baines melter has a water jacket, but to heat the water electrically in Mr. Kirk’s melter the water compartment has been enlarged at one end to take a 1500-watt electric element and a thermostat. The water temperature can be regulated by setting the thermostat to any desired heat from 100 degrees to 150 degrees F. Method of Operation The heater is set below the extractor, with the outlet away from . the gate. As the honey flows from the extractor it fills the heater to near the top, where the outlet is set, and remains

at that level. Particles of wax from the cappings quickly float to the top and can then be skimmed off periodically and put in with the cappings. There is no' wire-mesh strainer to be continually clogged, as there are only minor impurities to be strained after the honey leaves the heater. Warmed honey flowing from the outlet pipe then easily passes through a cheese cloth or fine-wire gauze and runs into a tank, retaining its warmth long enough to permit further clarification. Warmed strained honey is also in the right condition to pass through a honey pump and to be piped .to where required. This heater can cope with the honey as it flows from a 21-frame semi-radial extractor and has given satisfactory service for the past 3 years. Alternative Design > Any beekeeper who can do simple sheet-metal work and soldering should be able to make his own heater. Unused Baines melters may not be readily available for converting, into honey heaters, but the heater shown in the diagrams below embodies the same principles as . Mr. Kirk’s modified Baines melter. In addition to having a large heating surface, the aim is to divide the mass of honey into ribbons for quick heating. This is achieved by passing the honey over a series of 11 2in. pipes which are water heated; no honey can flow from the extractor gate to the outlet unless it passes

through the spaces between the pipes, the edges of which should be jin. apart. This heating process has the effect of creating a continuous film of honey jin. thick by 192 in. long and which passes through the spaces between the pipes. The diagrams below show the specifications of the inner and outer tanks of the heater. For building them sheet metal (tinplate) of not less than 24gauge thickness . should be suitable; tinned copper sheet metal would be non-corrosive, but it is too soft to remain rigid. Inner Tank The dimensions of the inner tank, which should be made first, are 23gin. x 16in. x 12in. deep. If the pipes are first spaced out, the exact length of the tank can be ascertained. An allowance of lin. should be made between the bottom of the tank and the undersides of the pipes. The apertures for the pipes should be accurately marked out and cut and the pipes should be soldered from the outside. Provision should be made for a bottom outlet so that the heater can be emptied of honey after separation has been completed. A l-jin. pipe with a screw-on cap will serve the purpose. This will also give access to the space under the pipes for cleaning with a long-handled bottle brush. The lower edge of the top outlet should be 3in. down from the top. Fix a partition or baffle between the side walls , and the top of the third pipe at ' about sgin. from the outlet end. Make the top flange lin. wide and turn down gin. to fit over the outer tank. Outer Tank Construct the outer tank lin. larger than the inner tank on all sides and 3in. deeper to give space for the electric element and thermostat. At one end provide a water filler. Although the flange of the inner tank will carry a considerable weight, additional studs or stays should be fixed to the inside bottom of the outer tank to prevent sagging. A qualified electrician should connect the element and thermostat, which is a comparatively simple job. As the outlet is less than 6in. below the extractor gate, there is little loss in height where a gravity system is used. Less heat would be required if the heater were insulated and had a movable cover on top, but as the temperature in most extracting houses

is fairly warm, insulation is perhaps of less importance. When regulating the thermostat it is advisable to take frequent thermometer readings of both the water and the honey. The appliance should be washed clean of all traces of honey after use. Otherwise corrosion may occur at any weak spots in the metal. Not only will this eat into the metal, but it will cause the affected surface to impart a bad taste to any honey which passes through it afterward. Once this corrosion has begun it is doubtful if it can be effectively arrested. Another important safeguard against corrosion is to empty the water out of the heater as soon as work with it has been completed. So many beekeeping appliances are designed to be operated by electric power that the producer outside a reticulated area often has to work under a disadvantage. As this is a hot-water appliance, it should also operate satisfactorily if heated by steam from a low-pressure boiler or by some type of kerosene heater placed underneath it. Frequent checking of the temperatures of the honey and water would be necessary when the ' heater is operated without thermostatic control of heat.

THE heavy-duty hive tool illustrated has ' been found very useful where supers and frames have become stuck together and require levering apart. Inset at the left is shown for comparison the smaller Pender hive tool and the heavy-duty hive tool. Uses for the heavier tool are also shown. Burr comb is being removed in the inset at the right, the action being easier than with the smaller tool and the hand more removed from the bees. The body of the photograph shows the heavy-duty hive tool being used to separate supers. Use of efficient hive tools for opening up hives heavy with honey will reduce fatigue, bruising or damage to woodwork, and also the time spent with each hive. THE length of the tool (14in. to 15in.) enables good leverage in stubborn cases, and the blade is broad enough to force an opening without spoiling the edges of the supers. It is common to see older supers with their corners and front edges so bruised that bees have easy access. In autumn, when robber bees seek out poorly defended hives, bruised or open crevices can make suppression of robbing bees difficult.

The blade of the heavy-duty tool has a shoulder on each side which can be used for loosening frames when the smaller Pender hive tool is not on hand for the lighter work. The blade is about 2Jin. long and ljin. wide so that it can be used to clear burr comb from inner walls of supers. It may be worked freely up and down in the space where a frame has been removed. Because of the strain this tool is put to it is desirable to get a blacksmith or engineer to make it out of approximately Jin. spring steel or to temper the metal for heavy work. The

top end of the handle should be shaped to form, a circle or scroll and the handle enamelled white to prevent it being lost in long grass. If the tool is made out of a large flat file, the serrated surface should be smoothed off, for it could harbour the bacillus of foul-brood.

—S. LINE,

Apiary Instructor,

Department of Agriculture, Invercargill Photographs by Commercial Studios.